Teammates and coaches have said that Rambo reminds them most of Reed when asked to compare the Georgia safety to an NFL player. And that’s without the eight-time Pro Bowler’s name even mentioned in the question.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though. Rambo said that he’s followed Reed’s career since he was a child and tries to emulate the future Hall of Famer every Saturday.

“I watch his highlight film a lot to see how he does things,” Rambo said. “I feel like he’s more of a ball hawk and that’s what I try to suit myself as. If it comes down to making a big hit, he’s going to make the big hit. I try to do that, too, but now I’d rather just catch interceptions.”

And he’s done that. Last year, Rambo led the Southeastern Conference with eight interceptions en route to being named an Associated Press All-American. Rambo had three as a sophomore and two as a freshman, and has one this season, for 14 total. With three more this season, he will surpass former Bulldogs star Jake Scott (16 interceptions) to stand alone as Georgia’s all-time leader.

“It would mean a lot just to have my name No. 1 on the list,” Rambo said. “There have been so many great players (from Georgia) that will go into the NFL Hall of Fame. To have more interceptions than those guys will be a tremendous feeling. Those were some great players and I really respect those guys.”

If Rambo does go on to break the record, he will tie Ed Reed for interceptions since 2009, when Rambo’s career at Georgia began. Additionally, Rambo has more defensive touchdowns (three) than Reed (two) during that span while playing in five fewer games.

This year, though, Rambo has made a name for himself with his tackling. Despite playing in just five games, the 6-foot, 210-pound senior is seventh on the team in tackles (37) and is averaging almost three more per game than last year. Some may attribute the Georgia run defense for that, but linebacker Christian Robinson disagrees.

“Obviously you don’t want the tackles being made in the second level, but a lot of his plays are being made when the play is extended and the ball bounces east-west,” Robinson said. “(That’s) good because that means they’re not able to run north-south on us for big yardage. He’s making 2-yard gain tackles, and we can live with that. That’s all you want — a hard-hitting safety that can do that.”

Reed is arguably the hardest-hitting safety in the NFL, as evidenced to his 583 career tackles, of which 11 forced fumbles. Rambo doesn’t have the fumble stats that Reed does — only four at Georgia — but coaches acknowledge that he’s still one of the most rugged tacklers on the team. Over their careers, Rambo (4.8) actually averages more than one tackle more per game than Reed (3.8).

Both Rambo notes his numbers wouldn’t be as impressive without his strong supporting cast. Rambo leans on what he calls an “All-American secondary” that includes Shawn Williams, Sanders Commings, Branden Smith and Damian Swann.

Thanks to that talent, Rambo has never been closer to a championship. Georgia’s No. 5 ranking is the highest it’s been since he arrived in Athens, and it could climb before the BCS national championship game in Miami is set. The Bulldogs will secure a spot to play for the SEC crown next month in Atlanta with a win this weekend at Auburn. Rambo couldn’t be hungrier to get back to the Georgia Dome.

“Of course we do,” Rambo said when asked if he thought Georgia still has a shot to get to Miami. “It’s about how you finish. We haven’t played our best ball yet, so we just need to try to get better every week. We’ve got to have everybody knowing that we can still achieve our team goals, so it’s going to come down to the leaders — the seniors — to get everyone focused.”